Confessional Booth
by Nevana Eshe
Summary: The deepest defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one was capable of becoming, and what one has, in fact, become.
1. The Imposter

The Imposter: Naruto

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In his dreams he sees blood.

He sees children screaming, holding tight the bodies of their loved ones. He sees the once beautiful trees that Konoha was so known for, on fire and spreading to the village.

He sees eyes.

Human and demon, following his every movement. He can't breath for the pain in his chest and the smoke choking his lungs.

He doesn't want to see or feel or remember these things.

He doesn't know why he sleeps anymore.

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End

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	2. House of Broken Puppets

House of Broken Puppets: Kankuro

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He dreams of the puppet theatre that he saw as a child in Suna. It was one of the few days he remembered his father having off.

He remembered having loved to watch the way the puppets moved, and how the puppet masters seemed to blend into the black background. Unnoticed except for the lightly shining strings of chakra flowing from their fingertips. But you could only see it if you knew where to look.

The only thing he didn't like was the fight scenes. The cracking of wood against wood, and sometimes steel against steel, was more than enough to make him flinch.

As he looks at his blood-stained hands, he begins to wonder when he started thirsting for battle.

He tries not to sleep, if only so he doesn't remember that innocence.

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End.

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	3. Fade To Red

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Fade to Red

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In his dreams he sees his family.

Whole again after all these years, but not always clean of the blood that coats the walls. Sometimes he sees Itachi turning towards him, holding the katana that slaughtered his parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and now his own little brother.

But sometimes, when the spars and gen-jutsus have worn him out so much that he can barely think straight, he dreams of the good days. Of the brother who taught him how to read the old kanji in the Uchiha library. Who, whenever he was scared of the thunder and lightning outside of the thin walls of his bedroom, would allow him to crawl into his bed and nessle against his chest.

He doesn't know which one he wants to remember more.

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End.

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	4. Dead End Moon

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Dead End Moon: Gaara

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He dreams of sand crunching beneath his feet. Of finally being free of the power that has controlled him, Them, for so many years.

"Mother."

He could feel the energy twist around him in his few precious moments of rest. Could feel his chakra instinctively strengthen the holes his unconsciousness produced. Could hear the start of the sweet, and ever so soft, calling of that voice.

Like a lullaby.

He tried to stay awake, even if for only a moment more, though he was so tired. Couldn't let Them out. They'd destroy everything he'd finally built for himself after all these years of trying. He could see Kankuro and Temari, and he could also feel them begin to move to ready themselves. Could see/feel/hear them wince and shrink away.

"This is the moment," the voice whispered to him. "Trust Us. Sleep and just let go."

'Yes.' He thought. 'Just let go.'

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End.

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	5. Stay

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Stay: Tsunade

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She dreams of her dead loved ones, each with their hearts ripped out. She stops sometimes, wonders about the symbolism of those images, painting the inside of her mind. And she weeps, because now she's found people to replace them, to fill the voids left by their deaths. And everyday it gets harder to remember their faces, their laughter, their touch. She barely remembers her little brother anymore, so she interposes Naruto's face over his, and leaves it at that. Naruto isn't what her brother was, she realizes, but what he could have, might have, been. And every night, when she lies awake in Jiraiya's arms, she tries to rememeber what her love looked like. And if she treats Jiraiya any differently because of it, he doesn't mention it. And if she finds that that's the only way she can sleep facing him, she doesn't acknowledge it. But she doesn't know which is worse, replacing her brother, or pretending with her lover.

She dreams of blood, and tears, and broken hearts.

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End.  
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End file.
